Fullmetal Piracy
by KettrickenNightwielder
Summary: The country of Amestris is a series of islands rather than a landlocked mass. When Roy doesn't show up to recruit Ed and Al, they resort to other means of obtaining the Stone: Piracy.
1. Chapter 1

With a long-suffering sigh, Roy raked his hand through his hair as his old friend continued to ramble on. He glanced down at the report in front of him and wondered how much of his attention it required. Riza had given that stack to him _before_ Maes had called, which was unfortunate. His subordinate has the tendency to bring him papers that he merely needs to sign without actually reading when his best friend calls. The fact that she hasn't brought him a fresh set of paperwork even though this phone call had now lasted, he glanced at the clock, nearly half an hour; could mean that the items in front of him were low priority.

Or it could mean that she simply doesn't have anything low priority to bring him.

Roy decided he needed to move this along, if he was going to make it out of here in time for his date later.

"Maes, some of us have work to do today. If there's nothing of import, could we-"

"Oh, sorry there, Royboy. You know how excited I get about my dear Gracia! I actually do have something to share!"

Roy was pretty sure he kept this sigh restricted to a mental one before he replied, "Oh, really, and what is this crucial bit of news?"

If it was about Roy's lack of a wife in any way, he was hanging up.

"You got a map handy?"

Roy blinked. Huh. Apparently this was work related, since Maes' attempts to set Roy up rarely involved charting a course. He set aside the stack of forms and pulled over the map he always kept handy. It was the standard issue map of the island country of Amestris, with all the major currents and hazards noted, plus plenty of his own notations in his personal alchemy code. The largest island in the middle was simply called Central, and that was where his friend was currently calling from. Roy was currently on Eastern Island, which merely meant that it was the largest island in the Eastern quadrant, as there were obviously quite a few smaller islands nearby.

"Alright, got it here Maes."

"Right. So, I haven't brought this up before, because frankly it seemed too ridiculous to be anything other than crazy sailor superstitions. But! I've gotten a couple reports from people I trust, and I think there's something here now."

"Go on," Roy encouraged, slightly intrigued now. Maes rattled off half a dozen sets of coordinates, which Roy marked on the map with various bits of whatnot on his desk. They were all in or very near the official Eastern quadrant, though a few did wander slightly into the Southern. "Alright, so what am I looking at?"

"It seems there's a new pirate crew working your neighborhood!"

Roy rolled his eyes, "Piracy isn't exactly my department, Maes."

"These aren't your ordinary pirates, Roy! There are a lot of rumors, but a lot of them stay pretty consistent. If my informants are right, this is a small crew. Most report only two, but I've heard up to five."

"Hardly a threat."

Maes snorted, "That's what I thought at first. But, it get's stranger. The two that are _always_ mentioned are a giant man in a full suit of armor, and a young boy estimated around ten or eleven. Both of which seem to be combat experts and, apparently, alchemists."

Roy sat up straighter and studied the map again, "What?"

There was definitely a smug tone to Maes' voice as he continued, "And, apparently, they have some strange, metal ship that runs on steam power. It outruns everything out there, it seems, and is ridiculously maneuverable. Nothing stands a chance."

"Do we have a name? Home port? Anything?"

"Nothing concrete. But, they're starting to get a reputation. They're being called Fullmetal. Not sure if that's the name of the Captain, the group, or the ship. Heck, I'm not even sure which of them is the Captain."

Roy drummed his fingers over the desk for a minute in thought, "What are they targeting?"

"That's where it gets pretty strange. Some military ships, some civilian. They don't necessarily take anything too valuable. A pretty random list of things really. There was a whole shipment of coal, which makes sense with the steam engine. But, they do take anything written they can get their hands on. Manifests, fiction, charts, one poor cabin boy's journals. Whatever. If it's written down, they take it."

Well, if they were alchemists, that made sense. Almost all alchemy notes are written in code, and some of it is twisted into some pretty innocuous forms. He'd seen chimera research written as an intro to gardening guide before.

"Keep me posted, Maes. I'll see what I can do from this end."

"I thought you'd be interested in this one. You got it, Royboy!"

Edward cackled as they pulled away from their latest target. They'd transmuted the rudder in place at an angle that should take them to the nearest port in a few days, winds permitting, so he wasn't worried about pursuit. And, despite Al's disapproving look, Ed had made sure to seal over the openings on all of their canons, so they were safe now that they were out of range of regular firearms. He switched everything over to autopilot now that they were on course, and hopped down the ladder to where Al was already sorting through their latest haul.

He took shrugged out of his heavy, scarlet coat with wide black cuffs, and more gold braid and black embroidery than was strictly necessary. Hanging the coat on the hook on the back of the door, he stretched his arms over his head, full black sleeves falling from the linked hands covered by black leather gloves. Ed had decided at the very beginning that if they were going to be pirates, he was damn well going to look the part.

"Anything good?"

Al's hollow, echoing sigh was defeated, but his tone was a little hopeful as he answered, "Not yet, but I've only just started."

Ed plopped down on the floor cross-legged and dragged a crate of books and papers closer. He skimmed titles and authors before grabbing the first one to randomly catch his eye.

"Don't worry, Al. We'll find it, and get your body back. It's out there, we just gotta keep lookin'"

Al nodded emphatically, and set aside the stack of invoices he'd just finished into the 'trash' pile. They kept nearly every chart they found, since every Captain tended to have their own secret courses and favored harbors, all of which were often noted on their charts. Every so often, they'd compare their confiscated stack to their master one, moving over any notations that seemed useful, then discarding the extras.

"Hmm, this is interesting, Al."

His brother leaned over to read the paper in Ed's hands. "These are the official orders for that crew. They were on their way to check out some religious cult on an island called Liore, where some whacky priest is said to be pulling fanatics under his wing by performing 'miracles' or something."

The two brothers looked at each other silently for a moment, then back to the paper.

Al pointed to one line, "These don't follow the laws, Big Brother. Do you think . . . ?"

Ed grinned, "Yeah, Al. It could be a stone."

Right. So, not really sure where this came from, but here it is. I don't plan on continuing this, so I didn't really think through all the details, but here are some tidbits:

Technology wise, it's kind of random to make it work. Sue me. Obviously they have inter-island phone calls. However, they still use sailing ships as opposed to any sort of motors. Trains wouldn't be too big a thing, since probably only Central Island would be big enough to really warrant one, Possibly one or two of the other cardinal islands.

Ed and Al did try to bring back their mother, resulting in Al in the armor, and Ed down two limbs. Roy didn't scout them. Instead or joining the military, Ed and Al take up piracy in search of any and all info on the stone. They steal as little as they can from civilians, and not much more from the military. They're not in this for the riches, after all.

Winry not only makes and maintains Ed's automail, but also their ship. The boys actually have a reason to avoid going home too often, because they can't afford to be tracked in that area too often at the risk being caught or causing trouble for the Rockbells.

Eventually they get too well known, and Roy is tasked with bringing them in, resulting in hijinks and shenanigans.

Scar is still out for State Alchemists, and still a lone wolf. He pretty much sticks to attacking on land, and stowing away when he needs to hop islands for a target. He and the Elrics won't have as much conflict in this world. While the boys don't approve of him, of course, they would barely be on his radar since Ed is no longer an Alchemist.

I picture Father as a Pirate King, the homunculi in charge of his fleet. His goals are pretty much the same, really.


	2. Chapter 2

Alright. So. I know I said this was just a oneshot, but apparently I lied? Whatever. I was bored, and this happened. I may just do this as a series of little drabbles, because I feel like the world is kind of fun, you know? Anyway, here we go.

Chapter 2

(sort of?)

There really was no point in resisting the urge to smirk, so Roy didn't. After months at sea, almost randomly patrolling the Eastern sector chasing leads, his fleet had finally spotted the Fullmetal crew. Or ship. Or captain. He shrugged mentally, they'd find out which soon enough.

The ship was just as odd as the descriptions Maes had sent him. It was more like a black metal box than any ship Roy had ever seen. With a small . . . shed of some sort made of the same metal pearched near the back of the 'deck'. The shed had windows all around it for a 3600 view. There were no masts or sails. Some token railing here and there, but not even fully surrounding the deck. There appeared to be just enough rope to tie the ship up, but no more. Two metal pipes extended up through the deck near the stern, letting out puffs of black smoke.

And, most importantly, it clearly had no reliance on wind or currents. The small ship could clearly move about wherever it wanted. Roy was intriqued.

"Move in, Captain." As a State Alchemist, Roy technically was of equal rank to a Captain. Sometimes a State Alchemist would actually be given permanent command of a ship and crew, if their alchemy was apprpriately focused. This wasn't the case for Roy, but he'd been put in charge of all three of the surrounding ships with the task of bringing in this odd pirate crew, so for now he was actually giving orders to all three of the Captains.

As his orders were relayed and the crews began to scramble about the deck and rigging, their target changed course. Right toward the small fleet of heavily armed Navy battle ships.

Roy cocked one eyebrow in surprise. Sure, these pirates had taken on quite a few trained Navy crews at this point, but never more than one at a time. Were they planning to ram them? He mentally scoffed as he adjusted his gloves. No matter. This would be over shortly.

Twenty minutes later, Roy scowled from his place directly in front of his crew. They were all, including Roy, kneeling on the deck with hands bound behind their backs. Well, most of them. He glanced to his right, where Havoc was somehow entangled in what used to be pristine rigging, almost completely inverted with only his left leg dangling free as his face turned slowly redder with the blood rushing down to it. Below him, Breda was leaning slightly sideways, hands encased within the metal of the canon he had been aiming at the pirates.

Said pirates were currently chatting calmly on the deck of their own, odd ship, which was currently pulled alongside Roy's. With a decisive nod, the small blonde one turned and made eye contact with Roy. A sharp, manic grin spread slowly across the boy's face before he jumped over onto the railing of the Navy ship, casually catching his gloved left hand in the lines there. Of course, he had to grab it with his left hand, since his right hand (which was apparently automail) had a foot long blade extending from it.

"Now, down to business," the boy declared.

Roy's reply was another eyebrow lift. He didn't seem to notice.

"You're in charge, right?" Roy gave the slightest nod, "Right. So then, I'm going to pick one sailor on each ship to help me gather up all the documents and whatnot, and then we're going to pass them over to Al." He gestured with his head to the man in the armor, still on their little metal ship, but continuously scanning all three Navy ships for trouble. "We don't normally conscript helpers, but we don't normally get three of you at once!"

Roy glared at the triumphant grin that accompanied that statement, but it was the muttered, "Brother!" from 'Al' that caught Roy's attention. Interesting.

The blonde continued to grin with just a glance over at his companion before continuing.

"If you order your men to be good little sailors, and sit nice and calmly where they are, we'll be out of your hair in no time and nobody has to get hurt. Right?"

Roy gave another sharp not in answer. He really had no choice. These two had swept in and taken charge of all three ships before Roy could even begin to fathom what was happening. He'd only gotten flames off twice (both of which bounced harmlessly off of the metal ship, and were dodged easily by the two pirates) before the blonde clapped his hands. Roy had thought that a little odd, but the crazy part was that when the kid slammed both palms to the deck of his own ship. Suddenly, a large pipe grew out of the deck and then doused Roy entirely from head to toe.

Which is why he was currrently kneeling on his own deck, dripping.

"Do as he says." It really was all he could do. The two pirates had already neutralized all of the fleet's canons, tossed most of the firearms his crew had previously been weilding into the ocean, and tied them all up. They were helpless. To try to rally now would most likely end up with a bunch of dead sailors.

"Right. We'll start here then." The blonde glanced up and down the line of sailors. Unsurprisingly, he pointed to Fuery. "How about you help me out?"

He said it with a grin, like asking a stranger to hold your coffee while you put on your jacket. Roy could hear Fuery's terrified gulp from here, followed a moment later by his shuffling to his feet.

"It's alright, Fuery. Just do as . . ." Roy glanced to the pirate, "uh, he says."

Ed rolled his eyes, "I guess you can call me Fullmetal. Everyone else does now."

The shortest pirate Roy had ever heard of stepped in front of Fuery and held one finger up, pointing it down to the deck. He twirled it in a circle, gesturing for the sailor to turn around. With a glance at Roy, Fuery stiffly turned his back to the pirate. When the boy slashed suddenly downward with the wicked blade attached to his arm, Fuery was not the only of Roy's men to wince.

However, the communications expert seemed entirely unharmed as the tattered remanents of rope fell to the deck. Fullmetal clapped Fuery on the shoulder, and gestured for the shoulder to lead the way below deck.

Now that they were out of sight, Roy turned his gaze back to the armored one.

"Al, was it?"

A soft sigh escaped the helmet, "Yeah. Sorry about this, but we had to. He means it though. We don't want to hurt anyone. Just do as brother says, and we'll be gone soon."

Roy studied the blank features of the helmet for a moment, then nodded.

"Sir." He tilted his head ever so slightly toward Rize in acknowledgement.

She took that as a go ahead and continueed, "Havoc may lose conciousness soon."

Roy glanced at the blonde, who did indeed look woozy from being upside down for so long.

"I'm fine, sir." Roy frowned at the unsteady waiver in his subordinate's voice.

Turning to the armored pirate, Roy asked, "Could you please let my man down? I will order him not to resist." He gave a pointed look at the upside down blonde, who sighed and grudgingly nodded.

Al glanced between Roy and Havoc, then gave a long stare at the hatch Fullmetal and Fuery had disappeared down into. With another glance across the decks of the other two fleet ships, he jumped across to Roy's ship with a surprising amount of ease for someone in a full set of plate armor.

Roy's eyes narrowed as the pirate approached Havoc, wondering if he would get another example of that odd, circle-free alchemy. But no, Al pulled out a piece of chalk and scratched a quick transmutation circle on the ship's railing. Placing his gloved hand on the circle, the ropes began to glow blue and shift.

With or without a circle, Roy was impressed. The ropes shifted in a way and order that gradually shifted Havoc to a more upright position, his feet eventually hitting the deck, and yet his hands never became unbound. Al took his hand from the circle and reached out to steady Havoc as the man scrambled to get his footing steady.

After a moment, Havoc shook his head to clear it and glanced at the armored alchemist, "Uh, thanks."

"No problem!"

Another glance at the line of sailors bound on the deck, and Al once again lightly jumped across the not-insubstantial distance between the two ships. Roy was fairly certain that most of his crew didn't realize what a delicate and impressive display of alchemy they had just seen. Totally improntu, no planning or studying. Just a glance at the ropes and the man entangled in them, and boom! Havoc was planted firmly and carefully on the deck once more.

Roy was still mulling that over when Fullmetal and Fuery came back above deck a few minutes later.

Ed followed the sailor down into the crew's quarters before he started explaining.

"Right. So. Anything written down, I want it. I don't care if it's a shopping list, love letters, children's books. If it has words, I want it. Or, you know, obviously anything with transmutation circles.

The sailor, Fuery, Ed though, nodded frantically. Ed frowned when he noticed the poor guy quivering.

"Hey, look. Don't try anything, and you're not gonna get hurt. Honest. I want out of here as much as you want me gone. The sooner we grab all this, the sooner we're out of here."

Fuery swallowed, and gave another nod. "Um, yes, sir."

Ed rolled his eyes and clapped his hands, resting them against the panels of the narrow hallway to create a crate. He snorted to himself. Create a crate. When the transmutation sparks faded, he handed the box over to the sailor.

"I ain't no officer. You don't need to call me 'sir'.

Fuery frowned, "But, you are the Captain of you ship and crew, right?"

Ed snorted aloud this time, "Not exactly." He clapped his hands again and made himself a crate this time. "My 'crew' is just my brother. And I don't really know much about ships and stuff. I'd barely set foot on anything bigger than a dinghy before . . . well, before this. Pretty sure I'm underqualified to be a Captain."

Ed waved toward a footlocker, then turned to one of his own. It had a simple bit of roap tying it shut, so he whipped that out of the way and started digging. A short novel, small stack of old letters, and some sort of official Navy form that was half completed. Ed dumped them all into his crate, and moved on. Fuery had a small stack of papers in his crate as well as Ed moved down the line of hammocks.

"Um, Fullmetal, sir?"

Ed sighed, but turned with a questioning look. Fuery was kneeling next to another footlocker, this one with a simple padlock. Ed frowned at the bit of metal, but stood and took the few paces toward it. He could probably slice through it with his automail blade, but Winry would kill him if he nicked it and came back with a little less metal on his limb. With a clap and a flash, the lock fell to the floor in two pieces.

Ed silently turned back to his own work as Fuery audibly gulped.

The two made quick work of crew quarters, and moved on to the cargo hold below. Fuery rattled on about how everything was sorted and stored, but Ed had been in enough of these military ships by now to know they were all the same. He made his way through, randomly checking a few crates and stacks just to be sure, but mostly heading to where the more interesting stuff would be.

Sure enough, a padlocked chest was in the back, high up on some crates in case they sprung a leak. Another clap and the chest was opened. A couple small bags of coins, most likely pay for the crew, and then pay dirt. A stack of papers, mostly forms and the sort of beurocratic crap he usually found, and a few slim bound volumes that were probably past manifests and ship's logs.

Ed dumped all but the coins into his crate. He turned to head back top, but paused when he saw Fuery looking at him in confusion. The sailor glanced down into Ed's crate, then at the bags of gold coins, and back to Ed.

With a glare, Ed shoved past the sailor and made his way to the ladder. He couldn't exactly explain, so the poor guy would just have to stay confused. If he told anyone why he and Al were going through all this, they'd just be adding more charges to the wanted posters that were starting to pop up in the bigger ports.

After a moment, he heard the sailor scrambling to catch up. When they were nearly to the deck, Ed finally said, "Officer's quarters next. Your boss, he's an alchemist, yeah?"

Fuery answered from right behind Ed, "Uh, yeah. Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist."

Ed screeched to a halt and looked over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow. Even Ed had heard of the Flame Alchemist. He was a 'hero' from the war on the island called Ishval a while back. The war that cost Winry her folks.

"Yeah. Him. Especially his room."

Ed stepped to the side, and Fuery nodded before sliding past him in the narrow passageway. As they stepped out onto the deck, Ed frowned as he immediately noticed that one of their 'captives' had clearly been repositioned. Ed glared at his brother, who just shrugged one shoulder.

Ed sighed and rolled his eyes before following Fuery. They cleared out the the officer's quarters as systematically as they had the rest of the ship, and headed back to the crowded deck. Ed walked over to Mustang seet his crate down by his feet.

Ed shrugged one shoulder and said, "Sorry bout this."

With brisk efficiency, Ed patted the other alchemist down, being sure to empty his pockets. Ed only paused when he moved to Mustang's back and saw the embroidered gloves. Mustang must have figured out what he was looking at, because both hands suddenly clenched into tight fists. After a moment though, the State Alchemist sighed and relaxed his hands.

Ed studied the back of the man's head for a moment, then peeled off one of the gloves. Studying the detailed circle, he stepped back around in front of the older man. He gave a slight whistle.

"Impresive work. Very adaptable."

Roy seemed startled for a moment. Probably that Ed could clearly follow the science in front of him. Of course, this Mustang character hadn't seen what Ed had.

"Thank you, I suppose. I-"

Ed looked back up from the glove as the man cut himself off and turned his eyes down to the deck. After a moment, Ed dropped the glove . . . to the deck next to his crate.

"Not exactly my style, and not what I'm looking for, but yeah. Neat concept, I guess. Too bad we can't chat about it, huh?"

Mustang stared at him as Ed leaned over and snatched up his crate, gesturing with a jerk of his chin for Fuery to follow him over to the railing where Al was waiting. With ease that came from lots of practice, they passed the two, now bulging crates over to their own ship. Just as Al accepted the second one, the two brothers whipped their head over to the area Winry called the 'bridge'. It was fully enclosed, but above the deck, and housed the steering and communications.

The communications set up that was currrently beeping because someone was trying to get ahold of the two brothers.

Ed and Al shared a long look before Ed sighed. He knew there weren't many people who could contact them. Someone they knew needed help, because everyone knew not to contact the Elrics for anything trivial.

He turned back to Mustang with a disappointed smile, "Well, looks like your lucky day. We need to skip out a little early, I guess. Thanks for the help, Fuery!"

The sailor gave a small, confused looking wave of acknowledgment.

Ed jumped over to his own ship as Al lowered the two crates below the deck to their small living area. Ed entered the bridge, and powered the engines up out of standby. Grinning out at Roy, he raised two fingers to his forehead in a mock salute before taking off at a shot.

It was only years of hard-won experience that kept Roy's face impassive as the pint-sized pirate and his armored brother rumbled off into the horizon.

"Uh, boss? Shouldn't we . . . follow? Or something?"

Roy leveled a patient look at Havov, "How, exactly? We're still restrained and they're heading _into_ the wind."

Riza added, "Not to mention they slashed most of the main lines on all three ships. We're going to have to re-rig a lot of the sails before we can go anywhere."

Roy sighed and stood, "Fuery, think you can untie me?"

With a not, the smaller sailor moved behind Roy. After a moment though, he muttered, "Uh, no sir. These ropes aren't _tied_. They're . . . solid. I'll need to cut them off."

Roy closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This was not going to be fun to explain to his superiors.


	3. Chapter 3

Youswell had been quite a headache to the government for some time now, for various reasons. After a few discrepancies popped up in the regular reports, a chain reaction started though the system. First, a military representative was sent to inspect the small island's mining operation. When that report came back clear, the Youswell file was shelved.

Until the next quarterly report came back, also with some red flags.

This time, a State Alchemist was sent. One specialized in gems and minerals. He returned with a very detailed report of the qualities and availability of the mine that mostly just confused the higher ups, but the sheer overload of technical jargon appeased them.

The next quarterly report did not arrive at all. It's absence went unnoticed for several days due to the sheer multitude of reports constantly streaming in. By the time a clerk had noticed, the rumors were already filtering in to Central Command, which is how Roy came to his current predicament.

He stood stiffly at the railing as the ship was tied up and the gangplank lowered by one of the sailors. He returned the young man's salute and briskly made his way down to the pier. Riza followed directly behind, her bag in her left hand to keep her right hand available. Behind her, Havoc carried his and Roy's small cases. They weren't sure how long this investigation was going to take, but clearly there was some funny business happening, and Roy wasn't leaving until he'd gotten it sorted out.

The rest of his crew were staying on the ship for now, but there was no talking Riza out of joining Roy, and he felt Havoc's easygoing attitude (and not too shabby aim) may be beneficial with the locals. They had directions to the only inn from the file, and trio had made it there relatively quickly. Of course, unsurprisingly, word of three blue uniforms beat them to the premises.

Roy stepped up to the front desk in the deserted lobby/tavern, Havoc and Riza flanking him. The former glancing around with an easy smile in a way that could be mistaken for curiosity. The latter staring dead ahead in a way that often made civilians uneasy.

"Well, guests! How can I help you three today?"

Roy smiled winningly as he glanced over the man. He was tall and muscular, with sandy hair, a mustache, and goatee. From the reports, this would be Halling: previous mine foreman and innkeeper, and current mine owner and innkeeper. Talk about promotion.

"Yes, hello. Three rooms, if you please."

Halling smiled broadly, "Of course! And, how long do you plan on staying?" The large miner turned and grabbed three keys from the hooks, then pulled out a ledger. Opening it to a page marked by a slim ribbon, he began making notes.

"We're not quite sure. I'd say at least a couple nights."

Halling hummed an acknowledgment before asking, "And what name or names would you like me to put the rooms under?"

"State Alchemist Roy Mustang, please."

The pen froze for a moment, mid-word, but Halling's face remained passive. He continued his notes and looked up with a broad smile.

"Is there anything else I can help you with today? I'll call my boy to show you to your rooms and take your bags."

Riza chimed in with her 'all-business' voice, "That is not necesary. We can handle the bags."

Roy smiled again in an attempt to counter balance her icy tone, "Yes, we're quite self-sufficient. Just up the stairs, I assume?" At Halling's nod, Roy continued, "Also, if I could trouble you for some of your time later? I have some questions about the mine for an official investigation."

Halling's smile diminished slightly, a sharp glint in his eyes as he replied, "Oh, really? Of course. Though . . . it seems there was a military investigation not too long ago."

Roy continued to smile and tilted his head leaning casually against the front desk, "Yes, well, it seems there's been a lot of confusion with the reports lately, so I'm hear to just clear up that. Also. I hear some interesting rumors about how the . . . recent situations came to be wrapped up."

Halling tilted his head in apparent curiosity, "Oh? What sorts of rumors?"

Roy stared levelly at the man, "Some say the Fullmetal crew had a hand in it."

"Well, now. That's something. We've never really had much trouble with pirates round these parts."

Roy hummed a small non-committal noise before straightening up and grabbing the three keys from the counter. "I'm afraid it's been a long journey. Is there any chance we could have some meals brought up to our rooms? I know it's a bit late, but-"

Halling waved him off, "Not a problem at all. I'll have my wife whip up some trays and the boy will bring them right up."

Roy smiled his thanks and the three soldiers turned and made their way up the stairs.

"Sir?" Riza questioned as the hit the hallway upstairs.

Roy turned and took his bag from Havoc, exchanging it for a key. He handed a second key to Riza before answering.

"It's late. Rest up, get settled, and we'll get started in the morning."

They both chimed in with "Yes, sir's!" and the three of them parted to their rooms. A glance at the number on his key's tag showed that Roy was across the hall from Riza, and a glance down the hall showed that Havoc was next to her. He closed the door behind him and set his suitcase down on a small table next to the wardrobe as he glanced around the room.

Nothing fancy, but clean and fairly large. The wardrobe, table with his case, and a coat rack were to his left from the door. Across from him was a window with a small table and two chairs in front of it. The wall to his right had the bed and night stand, and the one to his left had a framed needlepoint and a door leading to the bathroom.

Roy shrugged out of his uniform jacket and hung it on the coat rack before snapping open his case and removing the pile of paperwork for the case. Crossing to the table by the window, he spread out the papers and a map. He was quickly lost in a list of eye witness reports and rumored sightings.

He vaguely heard a soft knock, but realized it was too quiet to be his door. After a moment, he decided it had been across the hall. He remembered the promised trays, and began clearing the table a bit. The majority of the papers and files he stacked semi-neatly on the floor beside him. He shoved the chart of Fullmetal sightings off to one side as the knock came to his door.

"Come in!"

Roy picked up his journal and tossed it lightly onto the other chair, not wanting to risk a spill on his priceless notes. He heard a bit of rattling and looked up to see two boys in the hall. The older looking one had long black hair loose around his shoulders, and wore a black jacket, leather pants, and clunky black boots. A sharp difference from the younger boy's shaggy but short sandy hair, dingy shirt and suspenders.

The older boy glanced over at Roy briefly before turning to the other lad. "I've got this one."

"Sure thing!"

The smaller boy picked up one tray off of the cart between them, and disappeared in the direction of Havoc's room. Roy noticed two trays remaining on the cart, and waved at the table beside him.

"Sorry for the trouble so late at night. If you could set it here, please?"

The black haired youth shot a sharp grin at him and nudged the cart into Roy's room. A casual kick behind him of his big boot swung the door closed. Roy froze for a moment, then forced himself to relax. There was nothing weird about closing a hotel room door behind you. It made sense to maintain a customer's level of privacy.

Roy picked up the last few papers and his pen and turned to set them on top of the stack on the floor. He heard the cart rolling toward him and come to a stop nearby as Roy straightened back up. He turned to see the boy lift the dome off of one of the two remaining trays, and watched him turn and set it cross the table from Roy. Roy raised an eyebrow in question, but the black-haired boy suddenly spoke.

"So I hear you're looking for Fullmetal?"

Roy blinked as the boy grabbed the pitcher of water off of the cart and poured some into two of the glasses next to it. He set one down in front of Roy, and the other across the table.

"Yes, actually."

Roy studied the boy's profile as he grinned and replied, "Well, that's lucky for you, I guess."

Roy frowned in confusion as the boy turned and finally set the last tray in front of Roy before lifting the silver domes off of each and setting them on the cart.

"Oh, and why's that?"

The boy finally looked directly at him, and Roy froze as he met the familiar golden gaze staring down at him with a mischievous smirk. Roy felt a sudden electric chill arc down his back as he stiffened.

"Because you found me."

As Roy watched the pirate plop down in the other chair, Roy subtly rubbed his hands on the arms of the chair. Yes, he was still wearing his gloves. Thank God. Fullmetal picked up his silverware and shoved mouthful of potatoes in before beginning to cut up his porkchop. Roy noted that the pirate's plate had three times as much food as Roy's own, still generous, portions.

After swallowing the potatoes, Fullmetal gestured to the tray in front of Roy with his knife and said, "You should eat. Halling's wife is a great cook!"

Roy really didn't like the idea of putting anything in his hands, in case he needed to snap. He compromised by picking up his fork and loading it wih a bite of mashed potatoes.

"Why the disguise?"

Ed looked up at him and blinked in confusion for a moment before snorting a laugh, "Oh, yeah. That. I wasn't sure how many of your men you would bring, and I thought we should talk one on one for this. Plausible deniability and all that."

Roy nearly choked on his potatoes as Fullmetal dropped his silverware and clapped. Instead of creating a sword or who knows what though, the boy lifted a hand to his black hair. Roy watched in amazement as the black faded to the sun-kissed gold Roy remembered from their previous encounter.

Ed raised an eyebrow at Roy, then rolled his eyes, "Would you relax? I'm not here to fight you."

"Then why are you here?"

The boy swallowed another bite of pork chop before shrugging, "Honest? I'm getting pretty tired of dodging you. You're staying too close, making our research hard."

Roy frowned, "Research?"

Ed sighed, "Yeah. Why did you think two alchemists would go sailing around, stealing notes and journals?"

"What are you researching? Why?"

Roy had been around plenty of alchemists, himself obviously included. Such devotion to research only came from two driving goals: Insanity, or something personal. The kid was a hurricane of intelligence and skill, but he didn't seem crazy to Roy.

Somehow, Fullmetal had managed to clear his plate already. Roy made a mental note to never offer to buy the kid a meal.

With a sigh, the young pirate slouched back in his chair, frowning for a moment before pulling out Roy's journal to keep it from digging into his back. Roy tried not to tense up at the casual handling of the book.

Ed glanced up at the older man across from him and sighed before averting his eyes. He sat silently for a moment, then dropped his eyes back to the book in his hands as he answered.

"Neither of those are easy questions. You probably won't believe me, and you'll definitely think I'm crazy."

He opened the book to a random page and skimmed as he flipped through. "But, I think we could help each other, if you're willing to hear me out."

There was a small snort from across the table, "My job is to capture you. Why would you be willing to help me with that."

Ed rolled his eyes again, "Not with that, dumbass. What if I told you that I have proof that the government you're working for is doing some crazy shit. And I mean, epic bad mojo."

He looked up to the older man's eyes and dropped the book on the table. The dark eyes studied him intently for a long silent moment.

"What sort of things? What kind of proof?"

"I don't really have time to go into all of it tonight. But, I'll leave you with some stuff to sink your teeth into. I wouldn't recommend taking any of it back to your office, though. Probably a good way to get yourself killed and all if they find you with it."

"Then what are you here to talk about tonight?"

"Well, maybe I'll answer your questions. At least, partway. A . . . token of good faith. Then, when you see the stuff I leave you, you can decide if you want to work with me or not."

"Alright."

Ed blinks. He hadn't expected such an easy response. Of course, the guy was still wearing those crazy gloves, but, you know. Progress.

After a moment, Ed nods and continues, "You remember my brother, Al?"

It's kind of hard to forget the guy running around a ship out to sea in full armor, bouncing around like it was made of paper. "Yes, I recall him."

Ed snorted, "When we were kids, we messed up. Bad. We . . . thought we were doing the right thing, but our calculations were . . . off. Way off." Ed glanced down at his automail hand and watched it clench into a fist before forcing himself to relax it and set both palms on the table.

"A rebound?"

"Not . . exactly. But, close enough. And it wasn't just me. Al . . . he's got it so much worse than me. As his big brother, it's my job to fix this. Make him whole again."

"Big brother? You're not the younger-"

"Watch it mister! One more word, just one! And I'm out the door right now, and I'm taking your poorly coded notes just cause I can."

Mustang glanced at the book on the table and held up appeasing hands, then gestured for Ed to continue, "You've heard of the Philosopher's stone?"

The officer scoffed, "A child's tale."

Ed side-eyed him, "Is it?"

Roy stiffened again, but didn't' reply.

"There are lots of rumors out there. Al and I chase them down. We don't have too much concrete info right now, but that's where you come in."

Roy frowned, "Me?"

Ed nodded and leaned forward, "You're a State Alchemist. And and officer. You have access to the State Libraries, military reports, who knows what else. If you feed us intel on the stone, I'll feed you info on the conspiracy rotting this country from the inside out."

"You want me to give you government intel . . . on a fairy tale?"

Ed threw himself back into the chair and groaned, "Ugh. I'm telling you, it's not as fictional as you think. You were in . . . Er." Ed paused. That may be a touchy subject. "In the war, did you ever hear of a Red Stone?"

Mustang's face was so blank that Ed knew he'd hit the mark, and smirked.

"That . . . it wasn't a Philosopher's Stone. It was just an alchemic amplifier."

"Sure. It wasn't a full stone. But we, Al and I, we think it's like . . . a first step toward one."

Roy shook his head in frustration and leaned back in his chair, "This is all crazy. What makes you think a couple of kids, talented or not, can do what alchemists have known for years to be impossible? Why should I believe anything some kid with a God complex is saying?"

Ed's eyes narrowed as he leaned slowly toward the older man. In a low, dangerous voice he said, "We're not Gods. We're only in this mess because we thought we could tread where only Gods should."

The two stared at each other for a long moment before there was a knock on the door, just a heartbeat before the door was shoved open.

"Brother! We got a message on the radio. We need to be going!"

Ed nodded and stood, taking two steps toward the door and his baby brother before he paused. glancing between Al and Mustang, Ed sighed.

"C'mere, Al. I think . . . we should show him."

Al suddenly went that unearthly still that only an animated suit of armor could manage. After a moment he whispered, "Brother . . ." and hesitantly crossed the room to stand beside Ed.

Glancing between Ed, who was staring at the floorboards, and Mustang, who mostly just looked confused, Al sighed. He reached up slowly and took off his helmet and tilted his torso forward slightly to reveal the blood seal inside. Roy knocked his chair over as he scrambled to stand up at the sight.

"Talented enough for you, Mustang?" Roy's wide eyes snapped to Ed at the burning tone of his voice before Ed continued, "Leave him the stuff, Al. I'll see you at the ship."

Roy watched Ed start to the door and clap his hands. By the time he was stepping into the hallway, the boy's hair was a deep auburn color. The door swung shut behind the young pirate, but Roy continued to stare silently after the frustrated youth for a long moment.

"I . . . don't know exactly what he said to you, Mister Mustang. But, you should know that my brother's a genius. If he says the Philosopher's Stone is real, you should believe him."

Roy looked up as Al situated his helmet . . . head? . . . back onto his shoulders.

"He tries to take all the blame, but we both messed up, that day. And, if it weren't for him, I wouldn't be here right now."

"Who was it, Al? Who did you two try to bring back?"

Because it was obvious to Roy now. There was only one branch of alchemy that held such a high price.

Al opened his chest plate and pulled out a stack of papers tied up with twine. He reached out to hand it to Roy, who took it gently. After closing his armor back up, Al crossed back to the door and pulled it open.

He turned his head back to look at Roy for a long moment before he whispered, "Our mother."

Roy wasn't sure how long he stood there, clutching the mysterious documents and staring at his closed hotel room door.

AN:

Apparently, I'm going to just keep writing this. In all the spare time I don't have.

Anyway. I feel like so much of the story will stay parallel to the anime, that I don't want to just retell everything. Instead, I'm just picking a few scenes that I think would be interesting and highlight the differences of this 'world'.

Always open to suggestions if anyone has anything they'd like to see, though.


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